Child Protection Advocate

Inspiring Story of a Sex Trafficking Survivor

Many people believe that human trafficking or sex trafficking happens only to foreign women and children. The disturbing truth is that the enslavement of US citizens is happening right here in the US. Just before Thanksgiving, I was honored to speak at World Day for the Prevention of Child Abuse. The keynote speaker was Chong Kim, a survivor (and US citizen) of domestic sex trafficking. Her story has become so well known that a movie has been made about her life. The way she has coped with the horrific nature of the crimes against her is awe-inspiring. She is a wonderful speaker full of life and good humor. She provides lessons for all of us on survival and triumph against all odds. I was fortunate to be able to interview her for my Leadership video series sponsored by SafePath Child Advocacy Center here in Georgia. Chong notes that we are not having the conversations, in schools, community groups, churches and the like, we must have in order to raise awareness and protect vulnerable young people from the predators that are sex traffickers. Chong’s story began with a young life full of abuse and neglect. She was lost in a foster care system that couldn’t cope. She was one of the “runaway or throwaway” youth so vulnerable to being forced into sexual slavery as a teen. To survive, she was forced to “rank up” to a madam status in the criminal organization that beat and abused her for years, just so she could find a way toward eventual escape. Please see my discussion with Chong at http://bit.ly/IHcl7y